Pudis Vardzkan
Pudis Vardzkan is the current and third Grand Marshal of Knights Vigilant Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes. One of the, if not, THE oldest Space Marine within the Chapter, he is renowned for his cunning brutality and efficiency. Having morals and beliefs eerily similar to those of his predecessor, Pudis is ever-vigilant in the Long War against the enemies of Mankind. History The first son of the wealthy rulers, the Vardzkan Family, of the Hive World of Orravim IV, the young Pudis Vardzkan was to be his father's successor as the sole leader of Orravim IV after his father's death. Rebellious in nature, Pudis refused to become the leader of his homeplanet and declared that he would join the ranks of the mighty Legiones Astartes. Training for years to come, Pudis was chosen by the War Hounds Legion of Astartes when they came to his world seeking recruits. Excited to see what his future as a Space Marine would entail, Pudis happily went under the knife to become a Legionary. Receiving a true education in combat, Pudis slowly but surely rose through the ranks until he became the Captain of the 12th Battleline Company mere days before Angron was re-united with his Legion. The proud Captain Pudis was one of the few that got the honors of talking with Angron, who claimed Pudis was one of the few gentle souls in the Legion after witnessing his delicate and gentle movement and speech patterns first-hand, after he agreed to lead the War Hounds. Though he protested the idea of naming changing their name from the glorious War Hounds to the brutal and senseless name of World Eaters, he never expressed his opinions as he did not want to anger his great Primarch. When Angron declared that all other World Eaters would have the Butcher's Nails installed into their brain to share their Blood Sire's pain, Pudis was one of the rare few who wanted to have the Nails installed into his brain before they were installed into any other brains. Unaware of the effect Butcher's Nails would have in his naive brain, 12th Battleline Captain Pudis was one of the first to go under the knife for the installation of the nails he would soon curse thousands of times. Waking up to a world of unbearable pain, Pudis' gentle and delicate movement and speech patterns started to deteriorate fast. He became more prone to psychotic rages and sudden outbursts and he slowly but surely replaced his skillful macesmanship with foolish and senseless brute force. Though he would try to return to his noble ways after his mind had gotten used to the nails, his training would be cut-off by the sudden beginning of the Horus Heresy. The Beginning of The Horus Heresy Being one of the faithful many to join the Warmaster's side during the Horus Heresy, Pudis first showcased his newly re-learned skills in the Istvaan III Atrocity where he fought against the loyalist Sons of Horus and Emperor's Children forces. Cutting a bloody swathe through loyalist forces with his Power Mace and Breacher Shield, which had been taken from the body of a loyalist Sons of Horus Breacher Legionary, Pudis gained Angron's favor for the slaughter he and his 12th Battleline Company carried out during the Istvaan III Atrocity. Though he had apparently killed loyalists without mercy, Pudis had secretly tried to comfort many before he executed them, claiming that leaving this "nightmare of a galaxy" wasn't as terrifying as the tales had made it out to be. Pudis would later appear again during the Drop Site Massacre, but unlike his fellow traitors he still bore his Legion's blue shoulder pads with pride.Cutting a bloody swathe through Salamanders forces, Pudis had made it way too obvious that he was trying to get to Lord Vulkan and kill him when his forces were stopped by an ambush conducted by the combined forces of the Raven Guard and the Iron Hands. Though unsuccessful in his attempts to kill Vulkan, Pudis and his 12th Battleline Company which had been gifted Terminators prior to the massacre, managed to get out of the ambush mostly unscathed. Though Angron had been most disappointed with Pudis' failure at killing the Primarch of the Salamanders, he forgave Pudis claiming that the amount of loyalists he had slaughtered was worth much more than Vulkan's life. Though records are conflicting after this point, it is a known fact that Pudis took part in the Shadow Crusade. Though the amount of Ultramarines forces he had killed during the Crusade are unknown and he refuses to confirm any numbers given to him, Pudis confirmed that he left the Crusade all alone after they watched Angron ascend to become a Daemon Primarch of Khorne. Realizing that there was no humanity left in his Primarch, Pudis fled the scene in his Company's ship. Knowing the Imperium would need warriors from the Heresy, Pudis moved his ship to the Segmentum Solar before placing himself in stasis in hopes that someone would find him. Revival Inquisitor Axras and her retinue found Pudis' ship during 332.M41 and opened his stasis pod when they realized he wore the colors of the 12th Legion before their fall to Khorne. Sent straight to Terra for questioning, Pudis expected to be bled dry of all information he had relating to the Heresy before being killed. However, he was instead greeted by the High Lords themselves who offered him to become a part of the Knights Vigilant Chapter of Adeptus Astartes. Though he openly protested the idea of the High Lords having their own attack dogs, he still accepted the offer to perhaps redeem himself of all the wrong doings he committed in the past. When sent to the Knights Vigilant, he was instantly taken into 7th Company's fold by 7th Marshal Krasus, who claimed he fought with Pudis during the Istvaan III Atrocity. Though Pudis was certain he remembered no Krasus, he still went along with it and became 7th Company's Chaplain. After coming to the conclusion that 7th was sick and demented, Pudis demanded that he be moved to 6th Company as he believed them to be superior to 7th in every aspect. However, instead of sending him off to 6th, Grand Marshal Crab instead offered him the position of 1st Captain, using his experience as the 12th Battleline Captain as an excuse to have Pudis get the position. Though confused as to why someone would give him such a position, Pudis accepted the offer and became 1st Captain. The Schism Pudis' Company had yet to be big enough to have a major play in the Schism, but the young Captain still wanted his opinion heard. When he openly called Grand Marshal Crab out, he was responded to with a mix of anger and distrust, with Battle Brother Griff going as far as to openly taunt and insult the 1st Captain. Though Pudis would later have a change of heart and side with the Grand Marshal, his voice didn't matter in the long run as the voting was already going in Crab's favor and many of the 6th Company members had already decided to jump ship. The Schism had managed to somehow effect 1st Company in a positive way however, as the leftover members of 6th were moved to 1st Company and made 1st grow. Marshalhood After his promotion to Marshal, Pudis' first action was to change the way 1st Company operated. Instead of being generalists like in any other Codex-Compliant Chapter, Pudis' First Company was dedicated to heavily armored assaults and simple brute force. Though Pudis wasn't as successful as other Marshals in his recruitment, his Company still grew in size thanks to the help of Grand Marshal Crab. Though Pudis' tactics had served him well, he was still enraged when he came to the conclusion that 1st Company suffered it's first defeat in Mardia when they had to call in 3rd Company to help them. After that battle, Pudis changed the way 1st Company operated to be a generalist force so that they may never need the help of another Company ever again. Ascension to Grand Marshal When Grand Marshal Crab stole the Banner of The Apocalypse, an artifact of 1st Company, to have it checked for corruption, Pudis began to plot against Crab. He bargained with Crab's favored Pskyer so that she may commit suicide when she laid hands on Pudis' face on the banner. He then ordered his cabal of Psykers to split in two groups, with one empowering Pudis no matter what happened to them and the other one sucking the life out of the Grand Marshal and transferring the power to the first group of psykers. When Crab came to the Contempt of Steel to accuse Pudis of heresy, Pudis denied all accusations and proceeded to accuse the Grand Marshal of heresy, claiming that Crab was psychologically projecting his own faults at Pudis. The enraged Grand Marshal dared Pudis to a duel, claiming that Pudis would become the Grand Marshal if he managed to slay Crab. Surprised by the fact that Crab was not only willing to duel him, but also willing to put his rank in the line, Pudis accepted the offer. Telling his Psykers to do as they were told, Pudis teleported to the Shattering Sun. After every Marshal and Captain arrived on the ship, Pudis and Crab began a duel that took no less than 48 hours. When Pudis got sick and tired of playing around, he headbutted Crab and hit him with his Power Mace, causing Crab to fall to the ground. Unwilling to let him get back up, Pudis grabbed the nearest Plasma Pistol and fired it twice towards both of Crab's hearts. As Crab bled out on the marble floors of the Shattering Sun, Pudis walked towards his throne and sat down. Proclaiming himself the new Grand Marshal, he ordered all the other Marshals to bow before him. Pudis' first action as Grand Marshal was to eradicate Crab's Honor Guard with his own, claiming that they were "dangerous folk, undeserving of serving the new Grand Marshal." Relationships Pudis has a strong bond with 3rd Marshal Malius, who had helped 1st Company achieve victory against the Tau on Mardia. Having signed a pact of brotherhood using the T'au Etheral's blood, Pudis and Malius used to go on crusades together when Pudis was still the 1st Marshal. When Pudis ascended to the rank of Grand Marshal however, Pudis started being openly hostile towards Malius, with there being multiple recorded cases of him being prevented from attacking Malius by other Marshals and Captains. Pudis also has a bond with 1st and 5th Marshals, though this bond appears to be more out of respect for his fellow Great Crusade veterans than anything else. Wargear '''12th's Salvation: '''Pudis' set of modified MK4 Artificer Armor, crafted by the Tech-priests of Mars way back when Pudis commissioned a replacement of his armor when he was but a young 12th Captain. '''Spear of Justice: '''A Power Spear Pudis took from the corpse of a Sons of Horus Captain during the Istvaan III Atrocity. Though Pudis claims that this spear once belonged to the Luna Wolves Captain called Tarik Torgaddon, he has no evidence to prove this claim. '''Bane of Secrecy: '''A Master-Crafted Plasma Pistol that Pudis used to execute Crab and inherit his position as the Grand Marshal of Knights Vigilant. '''Iron Halo: '''Though not visible on his person, Pudis' Power Armor's backpack has an Iron Halo inside of it. Why it isn't in plain sight is yet unknown.Category:Honor Guard Category:Characters Category:Marshals